


Locked In

by haldoor



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Community: 1_million_words, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:16:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haldoor/pseuds/haldoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Warnings/Spoilers:</b> No spoilers; there is talk of violence, injuries, and some grappling with criminals<br/><b>Disclaimer:</b> I don't own them; I make no money<br/><b>Beta:</b> unbeta'd<br/><b>Summary:</b> Steve finds himself in trouble and cut off from the others when the team chases down a criminal; Danny, Chin and Kono retrace their steps hoping to find him<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Locked In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Amarylissa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amarylissa/gifts).



> For [](http://amaryllisssa.livejournal.com/profile)[**amaryllisssa**](http://amaryllisssa.livejournal.com/) as a reward for a recent weekend challenge at [](http://1-million-words.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://1-million-words.livejournal.com/)**1_million_words**. Her prompt was: _Steve gets into trouble, and because I love the team, Danny, Kono and Chin work together to get him out. H/c would be a bonus._

It took a moment before Steve realized that it wasn't that he couldn't see; he was in pitch darkness. Moving made his head spin and he groaned as he twisted his hands in the tight bindings behind his back, testing for weaknesses. Thinking didn't help, and for the life of him, Steve couldn't remember what had led to him being in this dark space. Closing his eyes once more, he tried to relax; to take in as much about his surroundings as he could gather in the silence.

Steve gave it a slow count to a thousand, but nothing changed, although this time when he moved his head, the spin had settled to a dull thump. Turning from the side he'd been lying on, Steve shifted his legs, which weren't restrained, but a sharp pain suggested he'd been hit by something across the back of them. A vague memory of a chase down a back alley followed by shouting and then blackness, made him blink, and he hoped that Danny and the team had caught the guy they were after.

~//~

Danny had downed the perp he and Kono had cornered between them, and then handcuffed and handed him off to the uniforms before he realized that Steve was taking much longer to get back to them than he should be.

"Kono, Chin; either of you seen Steve?"

"No," Kono frowned, calling over her shoulder, "Chin, the boss back yet?"

Chin appeared from behind his truck, eyes flicking with concern from Danny to Kono and back. "He not here?"

Shaking his head, Danny eyed the cousins, and reached for his phone. "He would have checked in if he got caught up in something… wouldn't he?"

The phone rang four times, and Steve's abrupt voice-mail message cut in. Somehow Danny knew he was wasting his time as he left a brief message. Panic swept through him. "Something's wrong."

~//~

The structure appeared to some sort of concrete chamber – probably a chemical safe going by the vague odor – and while it was long enough for Steve to lie stretched out, it wasn't high enough to stand. Steve was on what seemed to be a thin mattress filling most of the floor space. Air flow was limited but didn't seem in imminent danger of running out, although Steve could feel sweat running down his back and the heat was definitely increasing.

Becoming aware that his eyes were finally adjusting to what had seemed like solid darkness, Steve took in the dim sight of cracks suggesting a door in the structure.

Carefully moving his aching body back to a sitting position, he took a deep breath at the sharp pain low in his gut, ignoring it in favor of turning to test the door with his still-bound hands. Stretching his arms back sent a stabbing pain up his left arm, causing him to gasp, but Steve wasn't about to give up. He ran his fingertips along the crack, testing for weaknesses, but there were none he could find within reach.

~//~

"Go back the way you and Kono came, Chin. Kono, stay with me."

Danny's gun was at the ready; he wasn't taking any chances. Steve was not the guy who got distracted and failed to rendezvous with his team on the trail of an armed man, despite his normal ability to find dangerous situations and make them worse.

They followed the path that Danny had last seen Steve hurtling down at full speed, although they moved slower than he had, checking every doorway and corner as they approached them. When they met up with Chin a few minutes later and he shook his head, Danny's puzzled frown grew.

"Where in hell?" Futility was a bitch and Danny hated her.

A clunking sound at the dead end of the alley drew the whole team's attention, and they exchanged quick glances before advancing carefully towards the only place the noise could be coming from: a squat chemical safe that looked securely locked from where Danny stood.

As the team reached the structure, there was a yell from above them, causing all three of them to aim their guns upward. Without any further warning, a figure swung down from a fire escape, knocking both Danny and Kono over as the wild-looking man landed. Chin managed to back up, focusing his gun on him as Kono rolled out from under him and Danny wrestled to disarm him.

~//~

The commotion outside was muffled, and Steve jerked around swiftly, his voice cracking as he yelled out, "Hey! Hey! Inside here!" Leaning back awkwardly in the confined space, he lifted his legs, wincing at the twinges it caused, and kicked at the door with his heels, thudding his boots into the thickness again and again.

The muffled voice answering was definitely speaking his name. It was the sweetest sound Steve had heard all day. "Danny! Here, Danno; I'm here!" He let his feet down, heart racing as he shuffled awkwardly on the mattress.

"Steve, it's okay; we'll get you out. Hang tight." He nodded, taking a deep breath of relief at the knowledge that he wouldn't have long to wait.

After many far too silent minutes, there was a loud clunk and the sound of a chain rattling and then a squeaking noise. The light gradually increased as the door was pulled back, and then Danny's anxious face appeared, angry words about frying brains spewing from his mouth.

Steve had never been so glad to see his partner, or the light of day.

~//~

Kono and Chin had the crazed man subdued within minutes, and Danny silently thanked the good Lord when he recognized words – and who he thought was yelling them – from inside the safe.

"You: don't move," Chin threatened the cuffed perp, who merely lolled back against the wall, laughing. "High, most likely meth," Chin went on, one eye still on the guy as he stepped closer to where Danny was checking the lock on the safe. "Don't turn your back on him, Kono."

"We got any bolt cutters?" Danny asked and held up his hands as thumps rang through the concrete door. "What am I saying? Steve stows all manner of things in the trunk."

"Ahead of you, Danny," Kono yelled over her shoulder as she ran back in the direction of the car.

"Danny! Here, Danno; I'm here!"

The voice was muffled, but it was definitely Steve. Relief swept through Danny.

"Steve, it's okay; we'll get you out. Hang tight."

It was only a few minutes – though it seemed much longer – during which Chin called for HPD to collect the junkie still giggling at his own invisible joke, and Kono was racing back, bolt-cutters in hand.

The flashing blue lights appeared at the end of the alleyway as Danny mangled the chain holding the safe door closed, and he and Kono dragged it open inch by squeaking inch.

"Freakin' junkie; that stuff might have made him strong enough to trap Super-SEAL inside this thing as if he was the Hulk," Danny grunted as they finally got it wide enough to spot Steve, "but it sure as hell fries the brain."

~//~

The EMT nodded, pushing Steve's t-shirt out of the way and wiping the blood from his mid-section. "Looks deep but it's missed the organs at least, and the bleeding's slowing down now. Everything else looks superficial, although they'll want to check you for concussion."

"I'm fine. I probably only blacked out for a few minutes."

"Fine. He says he's fine," Danny told the EMT, then turned on Steve. "Do what the man says, you idiot. Didn't they teach you anything about head injuries in the Navy? And this…" He indicated Steve's gut angrily. "A band-aid is not gonna be enough for this. You _will_ go in the ambulance, and I will see you there."

"You're not coming with me?" Steve asked, half-smiling at Danny's obvious concern. He'd never admit exactly how worried he was, but Steve knew.

"What, and pass up a chance to drive my own car? Are you kidding me?" Danny turned, lifting a hand in a half-wave as he walked away.

Steve caught Kono's eye as she and Chin both nodded at him. "Listen to him, brah. The man makes sense."

Steve nodded back at them. "Yeah, thanks."

~//~

Finally, Danny was shown to where Steve was supposed to be resting, though he'd been told the x-rays were clear and Steve didn't appear to be suffering from concussion.

Danny stopped in the doorway, holding his hands out in amazement, though he knew he should have learned by now that Steve and staying put did not enter the same sentence easily – apart from when he was locked in tight. "You've been signed out already?"

"No, but I can't just sit around here while that gang takes out another pawn shop." Steve was pulling a clean scrub shirt down to meet his dirty cargoes.

"The pawn shops are safe. While you were busy being knocked out cold and locked up, we got a call from IAD to say that the scumbag they'd been following had led them to the place we'd been looking for. All known suspects rounded up and booked."

"Oh." Steve actually looked disappointed – if somewhat battered – at the pronouncement. He reached for his boots and almost fell over.

Danny rushed close, helping him sit down again before he unbalanced fully, and shook his head. "You should stay put. You sure you answered all the doc's questions truthfully?"

"I'm hurt that you would think I'd lie to a physician." But Steve stayed where he'd been directed – for now.

"I know you, babe. Thank God that asshole was just some spaced out junkie – seemed to think you were after his stash or something." Danny hadn't moved away from the bed, relief flooding him again at his awareness of how close the call had been.

Steve looked up at him from under those stupidly long lashes, appreciation in his eyes. "Thanks, Danno. I knew you'd find me."

"Yeah, well, had to really. You'd just have worn your fingers down to the bone digging your way through the concrete, otherwise. I couldn't be responsible for the paperwork. Not to mention how I'd be the one filling it in from now on if you had done that." He tipped his head and huffed. "Not that it'd be any different to how things already are."

"I love you too."

The accompanying half-grin was too hard to resist and Danny finally let down the barrier he'd been holding up between them for so long. "I can't lose you."

"You won't." Steve's voice was laden with gratitude, and Danny couldn't hold back anything any more. He wrapped his arms around his partner and hung on for dear life. Steve returned the embrace like his life depended on it, which he probably believed it did.

And at last, Danny couldn't say he minded.

~//~


End file.
